Santa Ana continues fight against marijuana dispensaries

SANTA ANA – Over the last month, a majority of medical marijuana dispensaries operating in Santa Ana have been shut down.

As of May 17, 59 were in operation. Following the closure of 42 businesses, city officials announced this week that the number had been cut to 17. Over the past 21/2years, the city has closed 109 illegal dispensaries.

"We're being more proactive," said city spokesman Jose Gonzalez.

He and other city officials noted that the state Supreme Court last month, in a Riverside case, validated a city's authority to ban medical marijuana dispensaries. The city attorney's office reviewed the city's current ordinance, compared it to Riverside's and found it to be substantially similar. City officials believe that operators have taken notice.

"What we're trying to do is to get the word out that the Supreme Court strengthened our position," Gonzalez said. "We've continued with our enforcement efforts as well as partnered with federal agencies to assist us in removing these illegal businesses."

The city said it has closed a majority of the dispensaries through cease operations orders, a formal notice that serious consequences may follow.

Both the U.S. Attorney's Office and the city will be sending additional letters to the 17 dispensaries known to be still in operation with the goal of closing them.

The letters will be followed by inspections and further enforcement. In addition to fines, the city can seek misdemeanor charges and sue.

Dispensaries refusing to close operations will be issued criminal citations, city officials warned. The city attorney's office will work on the most problematic locations with the intent of filing civil action, while the Police Department, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, will continue its efforts to rid the city of the dispensaries.

Supporters of the dispensaries warn that if Santa Ana shuts down medical marijuana dispensaries, street dealers will take over the business.

Among the such supporters is Mark Burcaw, a chiropractor whose family trust owns buildings on 17th Street and on Edinger Avenue that has four dispensaries among its tenants.

Burcaw said that the U.S. Attorney's Office has filed asset forfeiture actions against the properties, and that he is in the process of attempting to evict the dispensaries. He said he has talked to medical marijuana patients, including a retired police officer who said she suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome, and an Iraq war veteran and amputee. Many come from Orange County cities where dispensaries have been closed, he said.

"The main event for Santa Ana today is that citizens and patients and business owners have to stand together and encourage the city to represent city interests, and not be seduced by federal pressure or federal financial incentives to perpetuate the war on marijuana," Burcaw said, referring to proceeds that go to cities in forfeiture cases. "Even people who have no interest in marijuana have an interest in keeping the crime rate low. I can't believe they would undermine that."

According to a recent summary prepared by Jay M. Trevino, executive director of the city Planning & Building Agency, several city and federal agencies have collaborated in Santa Ana's enforcement effort, including police, the city attorney, the city's community preservation office, the U.S. Attorney, Drug Enforcement Agency and IRS. Each case the city investigates is forwarded to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In 2007, the Santa Ana City Council passed a measure that outlaws storefront medical-marijuana dispensaries but left the door open for hospitals and other state-licensed care centers to provide the drug.

Residents, nonetheless, have complained about a proliferation of marijuana dispensaries, especially along 17th Street. Enforcement of the ordinance is handled by the city's code enforcement staff. Persistent violators are referred for possible civil or criminal litigation. A challenge for city officials is that dispensaries may close at one location, but open soon after at another. Some dispensaries re-open as delivery services.

City-issued citations can range from $100 to $500 a day. Both operators of dispensaries and their landlords are fined.

"We take it seriously," Trevino said. "These dispensaries have real impacts on neighborhoods, on nearby businesses and on the community. The community takes it seriously, and so do we."

Santa Ana voters will decide whether medical-marijuana dispensaries can operate in the city in a November 2014 ballot initiative.

The proposed Medical Cannabis Restriction and Limitation Initiative seeks to remove Santa Ana's ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries, collectives and cooperatives and replace it with a registration process, zoning restrictions and a business tax requirement.